


Why her?

by Romanumeternal



Series: Random stories from the People's Republic of Rome [8]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Ancient Rome, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Non-Sexual Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-20 02:37:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17613866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romanumeternal/pseuds/Romanumeternal
Summary: To be honest, this really came about when I was writing something else, and it hit me.Why *would* a girl like Marlia end up serving a fairly rich girl like Julia, used to the finer things in life - especially when Claudilo is hardly the type of man to 'accidentally' buy an abused slave for no reason.





	Why her?

"Well, that's it for tonight, friends, and, as ever, thanks for watching. Next week, we'll be speaking to Honoria Metella, who's newest tale of forbidden romance in the Revolutionary Wars has just been published- and she says its steamier than ever! Don't worry, boys, we haven't forgotten you either - we're interviewing the one, the only, scutum luda player Marius Basilphoreus Eusebius - or, as he's better known, 'The Crippler from Caledonia!" And as always, we'll have all the best gossip, stories and rumours from around the Republic!  But now, its time for the news, followed by another adventure for the men of 109 Prefecture, in this week's episode of 'Fists of Justice'! See you next week!

Sia entered the room and handed a mug of coffee towards the slender, curly headed man who was watching the television. He was sprawled, exhausted, on a chair, his white tunic crumpled, his dark trousers creased. 

"Sir. Have a drink"

Claudilo nodded his thanks, and took a sip of strong coffee. He nodded at Sia, who obediently moved to the television and dialled down the volume, just as the strident opening notes of the Republican Bulletin opened up.

"Gods, I needed that."

"You look like you did, if you don't mind me saying, sir."

Claudilo nodded, wearily. "Tell me about it. Gods, this whole Suetonius scandal" he shook his head, unwilling to even think about that nasty, lying, corrupt, hypocritical and above all stupid man who had been, until two days ago, one of the Romulist Party's major donors. Up until two days ago, not entirely co-incidentally, he'd also been a Senior Praetor, until it emerged just how much money he had made from selling verdicts.

For the last few days, it seemed, Claudilo had done nothing but fend off reporters, 'remind' the Senator's clients of their duty to speak up for him and the Party, and explain through gritted teeth that yes, the Senator had met Suetonius socially, yes, they had been friendly, and no, the Senator had had no idea what Suetonius was up to and he was as shocked as anyone...

Sia nodded, although truth be told she knew little of Suetonius, beyond that he was an occasional visitor of her dominus but, from the sounds of it, was unlikely to be again any time soon. It was not, she felt, the sort of thing slaves needed to know about. 

"It sounds like hard work, sir" she said, loyally, having no idea whether it was or not. "But everything's all right now?"

Claudilo chuckled, half looking at the screen as an obviously computerised eagle soared past various global landmarks - the Iron Spike of Kowtoon, the skyline of New Athens, the White Tomb of Ishaal, the Great Ravine - before circling the Senatorial Palace . "The papers will move onto something else, and it seems Suetonius is guilty of nothing more than not choosing his employees carefully, although why he even trusted - no, I'm doing it again. Thinking about him." He looked at her. "How about yourself."

Sia smiled. "Same as always, sir. A slave's work is never done, and all that." She cocked her head. "Not that you'd know about that any more." She left a deliberately long pause before adding: "sir".

Claudilo sniffed. "You know, when I was freed and made a citizen, I somehow foolishly expected some respect from you."

"Romulus above, you really must have been drunk if you thought that would happen, sir" laughed Sia. "How long have we known each other now?"

"Sixteen years, give or take" said Claudilo. He frowned. "Huh, maybe less. How time flies."

"And now you a free man, and a Senator's secretary to boot"

"You know" said Claudilo, lightly, "you could be a free woman too, probably." He turned to face her. "I mean, I could probably persuade-"

Sia cut him off, with a roll of her eyes. 

"Why would I want that, sir?"

"Well-"

"I'm too old to have another child, I'm looked after here...truth be told, I'm not sure I could cope with freedom. Or what I'd do with it."  She smirked. "Besides, slave I might be, but in this house I'm the one in charge." She paused, and then went on, slightly more seriously. "Frankly, if you do have any influence over the dominus, I'd prefer you kept it for if ever any of us really needed it." 

"Well. The offer's there, as ever."

"And appreciated" reassured Sia. "Don't get me wrong, I've thought about it, and sometimes I see the appeal. But...I'm more or less happy where I am, I think, sir."

"As you say" said Claudilo. The news switched from a dignified man at a desk to showing the latest rioting from Lwo. A huge crowd, whipped into a frenzy, eagerly burned Roman flags outside the embassy, as a green robed man with a loudspeaker brandished a noose and heavily armed legionaries looked on. Sia gestured towards the screen.

"Exhibit A, right there sir. It could be far worse"

"Yes, well, Lwo is Lwo." That, Claudilo felt, summed the place up fairly well. The national sport there appeared to be semi-annual massacres, the main use of lamp-posts seemed to be to hang ones opponents from, and they seemed to have elections every month, all of which resulted in another round of what might charitably be called riots and more accurately low level civil war. "You know His Excellency was invited on a fact finding trip there? Thank all the Gods he declined that."

"And Exhibit B would be that new bitch. Marlia."

"Oh" said Claudilo, an odd tone in his voice. "How do you mean?"

Sia looked at him, coldly. 

"Well, she doesn't talk about it. But one can tell, can't one?"

"Tell what?"

Sia snorted.

"As if you don't know, sir. But I'll play along. Born in a labour-camp, was almost certainly a whore unless I've completely lost my marbles..."

"Plenty of slaves were born in such places. And I'd defy you to find one of us that couldn't be called a whore, one way or another."

"Don't split hairs, sir." Sia was smirking again. "I'm really, honestly, unsure why you picked a girl like that to be Julia's maid."

Claudilo sighed. It was surprising, he felt. One might expect that slaves would show sympathy and perhaps even solidarity for each other, or at least recognise that what mostly governed their lives was blind luck and the fickle favour of their owners. But in fact the opposite was the case, much of the time - at least in his experience.

A comfortable, houseborn slave like Sia had exactly the same sort of slightly vicious contempt towards those even lower down the scale that a Senator's wife might have towards her own slaves. In Sia's view, Claudilo was fairly certain, girls like Marlia should be scrubbing floors or whoring or scrabbling in a factory, and deserved little in the way of gentleness, being naturally promiscuous, lazy, crooked and generally dishonest, having done something (never usually clearly defined) to deserve their wretched position. Whether it was a desperate attempt to feel superior to someone, a vague mistrust of anyone who might usurp one's position, the chance to take out one's frustrations on someone, or what, he wasn't sure, but he saw it time after time. 

Although, he allowed, Sia's maternal instincts partially counteracted that, leading her to treat the new slave with a brusque kind of condescending exasperated kindness. There were plenty of women like Sia, he knew, who would have done everything in their power to get the new girl either sold on or, at least, made to appear as useless and untrustworthy as possible in the eyes of their owners. Sia's training, though not overly-friendly, had at least succeeded in giving Marlia the skills she'd need to serve a Patrcian girl at least semi-effectively. 

"Don't tell me there's a bet going on" said Claudilo, slightly wearily, knowing full well how the household slaves frequently amused themselves. Sia snorted.

"Oh no sir. That said, if it turned out you're in love with her, Luka will owe me a couple of sesterci. So feel free to admit that."

Claudilo looked at her, steadily. "I think you know, Sia, my affections lie in entirely another direction."

"Just because you like men doesn't mean you don't want a pretty girl-" she stopped, as Claudilo's expression changed. "Forgive me, sir, that was out of order."

"It was, just a little. I might not be the best of men, but I like to think I wouldn't take take advantage of my position to sleep with a slave. Man or woman."

"No, you wouldn't, would you?" said Sia, thoughtfully. "Sweet of you. Rare, too." She paused, and then went on. "So, you don't want to fuck her. So why her? She's smart enough, I guess, and picks things up quickly enough, and will make a decent maid. But there's better ones available, and I know the dominus is not hard up enough to have to go hunting for bargain cast offs."

Claudilo shrugged. "We needed one quickly."

Sia grinned. "No, I'm not buying that. Again, man as smart as you could have got someone better."

Claudilo leaned back in his chair, amused. "You're really not letting go of this, are you?"

Sia said nothing, simply folding her arms and assuming a determined expression.

For a moment, Claudilo said nothing, and then shrugged.

"Fair enough. Since you ask". He paused again, looking into his coffee and then. "Well, I guess I felt sorry for her."

Sia said nothing for a few moments, and then:

"What?"

Claudilo waved a hand, self deprecatingly. "Well...Gods knows I've been lucky - after, I'll be the first to admit, a rocky start in life. Right hand man to a Senator of the People's Republic of Rome. Respect, more money than I need, freedom..." he trailed off, and then looked Sia straight in the eye. "And you know what?"

Sia shrugged. "What?"

"I owed it all to blind, stupid, random luck - or at least, much of it. Oh, I won't deny I worked hard, and I'd be the first to point out how just how clever, wonderful, organised-"

"Yeah, yeah yeah" mocked Sia. "Get on with it, sir."

" - but for - Gods, I don't know, Hades, a slave dealer having a cold - I could have ended up in the hands of a sadist. Or worked to death, or...well, you know as well as I do where we can end up. I ended up with more than my fair share of luck."

Sia looked at him, curiously, and then shook her head. "No, sir. Sorry. But I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Just this. I saw a sweet, smart, intelligent girl, who'd gone through Tartarus and likely was about to end up in another one very shortly - and I decided to do some good. Gods know I can't help everyone, but that doesn't mean I couldn't give someone a slightly better life." He smiled, crookedly. "Even if, I daresay, she might not be thinking that when Julia sticks her with a hairpin for breathing too loudly, or whatever." He took another sip of coffee. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not sweet on her, I've no objection to her being treated as a slave and punished if she needs it, and if she doesn't perform then she'll end up where she came from. And I think she's clever enough to work that one out for herself. But..." his mouth quirked. "Well, I guess I decided to pay Fortuna back, a little."

"Jupiter Optimus Max" murmured Sia, amused. "You really are a soft one, aren't you sir?"

"Almost certainly" said Claudilo. He looked meaningfully at Sia. "Just so long as no one else knows."

"Don't worry, sir. An aide to a Senator, with a conscience?" Sia grinned, and then gently poked Claudilo in the chest. "No one needs to know there's a heart there."

**Author's Note:**

> To be honest, this really came about when I was writing something else, and it hit me. 
> 
> Why *would* a girl like Marlia end up serving a fairly rich girl like Julia, used to the finer things in life - especially when Claudilo is hardly the type of man to 'accidentally' buy an abused slave for no reason.


End file.
